King Shang Yuan was shocked when he learned that the envoy who came from the Ming Dynasty this time turned out to be the newly promoted Queen Zhongwu, he knew that Li Yuntian was a powerful magnate in the Ming Dynasty, holding military and political power, and he didn't know why he would suddenly pass through an overseas island like the Ryukyu Kingdom to suppress the Japanese.

"Your Royal Highness, I heard that King Zhongwu was ordered by His Majesty the Emperor to clear out the Japanese on the sea, and last year he recovered the small Liuqiu Island and Qiongzhou Island where the Japanese were entrenched in one fell swoop.

Shang De knew something that King Shang Yuan didn't know, and after a long silence, he whispered, "Not long ago, I heard that a group of Japanese invaders attacked Songjiang Mansion on the coast of Daming, and it seems that it was done by the Japanese people on our island. ”

"There is such a thing!" King Shang Yuan suddenly showed a look of surprise when he heard this, what surprised him was not that the Japanese invaders on the Great Ryukyu Island attacked Songjiang Mansion, but that the coastal state capital of the Ming Dynasty had been choked by the Japanese invaders over the years, and he had long been accustomed to it.

What made King Shang Yuan feel unbelievable was that Li Yuntian, as the dignified King of Zhongwu, would personally go out to clean up Songjiang Mansion because it was attacked and harassed by the Japanese invaders, which was really a bit overkill, and it was okay to send a general at will.

"Your Royal Highness, King Zhongwu is a celebrity in front of His Majesty the Emperor, we have to entertain us, if King Zhongwu can help us say a word in the court in the future, then we will be able to sit back and relax in the future." Sander nodded affirmatively, then spoke meaningfully.

"Quick, hurry to the port to meet the king of Zhongwu." King Shang Yuan nodded thoughtfully, and gave an order to the accompanying team in a deep voice, he couldn't let Li Yuntian wait too long.

Shuri Port, wharf.

In the cabin of the Mingyang, Li Yuntian, dressed in a yellow python dragon robe, stood at the window and looked down at the noisy crowd on the dock, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

He could see that the people on the dock were excited and showed awe of Daming, as the most powerful country in the world, Daming was the best time to promote national prestige at this time.

Li Yuntian's preaching of national prestige was different from that of the Three Treasure Eunuchs who went to the West, and he wanted to establish a complete system to ensure the stability of the Ming Empire, and the vassal states to which he belonged were not only nominal vassals, but actually became part of the Ming Empire.

Lei Ting stood aside and looked at the three-clawed python dragon robe on Li Yuntian's body with a smile, Emperor Xuande was not thin on Li Yuntian, not only did he make Li Yuntian the king of the Ming Dynasty with a different surname for the first time, but also let Li Yuntian use the yellow brocade robe that only the royal family could use, which can be described as a favor.

If it was left to others to wear out every day to show off, this is a symbol of identity and status, but Li Yuntian is very low-key, basically he doesn't wear this python dragon robe, he usually wears the uniform of the martial arts hall, he doesn't want to be the target of the public.

Since this time he was going to meet the king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, Li Yuntian specially wore this python dragon robe in order to show his respect for the king of the Ryukyus, and it was also for the convenience of his actions.

In fact, there is no need for Li Yuntian to be so grand, the envoys sent overseas by the Ming Dynasty are usually petty officials of the sixth or seventh grade, and even then they are on an equal footing with the kings of the vassal countries, he is the dignified county king of the Ming Dynasty, and when he arrives in those vassal states, he will definitely be well provided by the kings and officials of the vassal states.

This may be the difference between Li Yuntian and other Ming officials, he knows how to be introverted and act unassumingly in front of the kings and officials of those vassal states, which will undoubtedly give the other party a good impression and win the trust of the other party, so that he can better carry out the plan he specified.

"Xianggong, the king of the Ryukyus is here." Not long after, Lei Ting looked at the entrance of the pier and said, the honor guard of the Ryukyu King hurriedly entered the dock, and the onlookers along the way flashed a path one after another.

"Let's go, we'll go to the King of the Ryukyus." Li Yuntian glanced at the carriage that the King of the Ryukyus was riding, smiled and walked out of the room, he didn't just come this time for those would-be robbers, there was still a public case to know about.

Lei Ting understood what Li Yuntian meant, smiled and quickly followed, I'm afraid that the King of Ryukyu is a little uneasy now.

After the carriage stopped, King Shang Yuan hurriedly got out of the car and led the civil and military officials of the Ryukyu Kingdom to line up at the dock in front of the Mingyang, ready to greet Li Yuntian's car.

When everyone lined up, Li Yuntian slowly walked down from the boat surrounded by Lei Ting and others, Shang Yuanwang and Shang De and others couldn't help but be taken aback when they saw this, no one thought that the famous Zhongwu King of the Ming Dynasty was so young and looked like he was in his thirties.

"The prince is here, and the little king is disappointed, and I hope that the king of Zhongwu will forgive his sins." King Shang Yuan hurriedly stepped forward and greeted Li Yuntian with a smile on his face.

Since Li Yuntian is not a messenger representing the Ming Dynasty this time, King Shang Yuan does not need to kneel to Li Yuntian, otherwise according to etiquette, King Shang Yuan will kneel and salute like a Ming Dynasty envoy representing the Son of the Great Tomorrow, even if the envoy is just a minor official......

"This king has long heard that the king of Ryukyu fought in the south and the north, and successively pacified Shannan and Shanbei, and he is a wise and brave person, and now he really deserves his reputation at first sight." Li Yuntian smiled and returned the salute, and said politely.

"The prince has traveled a long way and worked hard, Xiao Wang has asked people to pack a house in the royal city for the prince to live in, and invite the prince to go and rest." Hearing this, the smile on Shang Yuanwang's face couldn't help but stiffen, and then he returned to normal, smiled and stretched out his hand to Li Yuntian and made a gesture of please.

"Then there is the King of Lauryukyu." Li Yuntian pretended not to notice the change in Shang Yuanwang's face, chatted and laughed with Shang Yuan, got into the carriage, and marched towards Shuri City under the escort of many Ming army sailor soldiers.

In the crowd, a young woman who was watching the excitement hurriedly bowed her head and left after Li Yuntian and Shang Yuanwang and his party left.

She went to the shanty town in the southern part of Shuri Port, stopped in front of a simple and old house, looked left and right, and saw that no one was following, so she knocked on the door regularly.

"Madam, I have inquired clearly, this time it is the Zhongwu King of the Ming Dynasty, but it seems that he is not the messenger of the Ming Emperor, and the thief Jin Yuan did not kneel down and salute him."

The door quickly opened, and the young woman entered the room in a flash, and when the door closed, she whispered to a middle-aged woman in shabby clothes with many patches that opened the door.

"There was a prince!" The middle-aged woman was taken aback when she heard this, and she looked very surprised.

"Madam, you should go to the dock and take a look, those ships from Daming are as big as a hill, and there are horses on them." The young woman nodded affirmatively, and then her eyes showed a look of excitement, she had never known that a ship could be built so large.

"You quickly go and find out who the King of Zhongwu is and why he is here." The middle-aged woman frowned and groaned for a moment, then commanded the young woman in a deep voice, "Be sure to figure out these two things." ”

"Don't worry, madam, I'll go and investigate." The young woman nodded solemnly, then quickly pushed the door open and disappeared into the street.

"Strange thing, how could Da Ming come to a prince?" After the young woman left, the middle-aged woman couldn't help but say to herself, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, it seems that she has never sent a high-ranking official to an overseas vassal state.

The middle-aged woman then shook her head slightly and stopped thinking about it, anyway, when the young woman came back from inquiring, she would know what was going on, maybe this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn over.

On the way from Shuri Port to Shurijo Castle, you first have to pass through two gates called "gates", but in Li Yuntian, it looks like it is actually the gate of the torii, the first of which is the Zhongshan Gate, which is the main gate of Shuri Castle, followed by the Shoureimon Gate with a strong cultural atmosphere of the Ming Dynasty.

When he saw the inscription "The State of Shouli" on the door of Shoulimen, Li Yuntian deliberately got off the carriage and saluted him, which was given by Emperor Xuande when he canonized Shang Bazhi as the king of the Ryukyus, and was regarded as a national treasure by the Ryukyu Kingdom.

After the Morimon Gate, you will arrive at Shurijo Castle, the royal palace of the Ryukyu Kingdom, and because Shuri Castle was built with reference to the imperial palace of the Ming Dynasty and the royal palace of the Joseon Kingdom, and the structure is somewhat complicated due to the small footprint, it can be roughly divided into two parts: the outer outline and the inner outline.

Perhaps he was accustomed to staying in such a huge palace as the Forbidden City, and as soon as he stepped into Shuri City, Li Yuntian felt an indescribable depression, as if the buildings and courtyard walls of the Forbidden City had suddenly shrunk several times, and he only felt that he would pass through a city gate from time to time.

In fact, although it is called the "city gate", in Li Yuntian's eyes, it is just a courtyard gate, and it is simply different from the city gate of the Forbidden City.

Under the guidance of King Shangyuan, Li Yuntian came to the main hall of Shuri Castle, which is not only the largest building in Shuri Castle but also the largest building in the Ryukyu Kingdom, with three floors high, eleven rooms and seven entrances, and there are five rooms in front of the building, and the center of the heavy eaves rest on the top of the mountain is Tang Pofeng.

Due to the limited floor area of Shurijo Castle, the main hall of Shurijo Castle served as both the office and the dormitory of the King of the Ryukyus.

The cornerstone of the main hall is the large bluestone transported from the Ming Dynasty, the first floor of the main hall is called "Shimono Kuri", which is the place where the Ryukyu King deals with daily affairs, the second floor of the main hall is "Dakuri", which prohibits men other than the Ryukyu King from entering, and is the bedroom of the Ryukyu King and the princess, and the "small house in the house" on the third floor of the main hall is used for ventilation.

It is worth mentioning that the main hall of Shuri Castle does not face north and south like the Forbidden City, but faces west.

In addition to the objective reason that the north and south of Shuri Castle have mountain guides and wind directions that circulate in the east-west direction all year round, there is also an important political factor, that is, the suzerainty of the Ryukyus, the Ming Dynasty, is on the west side of the Great Ryukyu Island, so the King of the Ryukyus used the main hall to the west to express his respect for the Ming Dynasty.

In addition, there are two important places outside Shuri Castle, one is the Gyalepyo, which is the tomb of the royal family of the Ryukyu Kingdom on the southwest side, and the remains of the kings and princesses of the Ryukyu Kingdom are buried in the tomb.

Another place is the Ming Garden, which was used by the Ryukyu royal family to enjoy and entertain the envoys of the Ming Dynasty, and was also known as "Nanyuan".

In addition, Shurijo Castle is surrounded by the royal garden "Ryutan", the royal temple "Enkakuji", and the Confucius Temple of National Studies, which can be said to be the economic, cultural, political, and military center of the Ryukyu Kingdom.